Launched in 2014, StoryBites is a weekly feature from YourStory, featuring notable quotable quotes in our articles of this past week (see the previous edition here). This special series of compilations focuses on India’s COVID-19 struggle. Share these quotes and excerpts with your networks, and check back to the original articles for more insights.

See also our pick of Top Quotes of 2021 on Entrepreneurship, Investment, Digital Transformation, Storytelling, The India Opportunity, Pandemic Resilience, Failure Recovery, Design, and Art.

Safeguarding your people’s general health, giving them time off to recuperate and making provisions for them to follow all COVID-19 safety protocols is not a revolution, it’s our basic duty. - Ranjini Chakraborty, Giesecke+Devrient

The pandemic has transformed the relationship between employers and employees and individuals have become more empathetic towards mental health and employee wellbeing in general. - Zoheab Rehaman, Plum

It also seems like the pandemic has somewhat reversed the progress made toward addressing anaemia, especially among children. - Puja Marwaha, CRY

The distribution of our items was handled by larger corporations before the lockdown, but after COVID, sales fell, and we realized that taking the business digital was the only way forward. - Rajia Majumdar, Angoshobha

We had to make sure that fear of the virus didn’t take over people’s lives. - Mayuri Madhukar Shetty, SNEHA

The best lesson we all learned from the pandemic was that we need to have in-house manufacturing units. - Shipra Dubey, Westinghouse India

I see the trend towards ‘self-help’ books increasing with the pandemic. - Meena Raghunathan, ‘Doing Good'

India’s logistics sector, especially after the pandemic, has emerged as a key player in fuelling the growth of the country's economy. - Anshul Goenka, Quickshift

As the pandemic started getting under control, restrictions eased, and people became more environmentally conscious, the EV manufacturing industry also witnessed confident growth, poised to emerge as one of the leading EV markets globally. - Mayank Jain, Crayon Motors

The pandemic has shifted the buying behaviour of consumers across the world. Hence, express delivery has become a necessity in the buying process rather than just being a delight factor. - Devesh Gangal, Borzo

The retailtech segment in India is going through a massive transition from its traditional physical store form to a digital one, the speed of which has been intensified by the pandemic. - Ruchi Pincha, Unicorn India Ventures

The pandemic and current macro environment are constant reminders that cash and liquidity are key indicators of business health. - Alex Tran, General Catalyst

Whether the pandemic or a military coup, you take care of your people first; business comes second. - Kinjal Pande, DB Schenker

When COVID-19 disrupted our world, people from all over the globe came together to support each other, which proved that we, as humans, are sensitive and capable of more than what we believe and together we can create an inclusive and conscious society. - Tarini Malhotra, Project Nishant

The pandemic made every human being humble against nature and made us relook at life priorities. - Nagaraja Prakasam

YourStory has also published the pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups’ as a creative and motivational guide for innovators (downloadable as apps here: Apple, Android).